This isn't for my GSD, but rather for my fiancÚ's staffy who lives with his mother. We live rural because of work. We met each other up here and were both staying with family at the time, so he couldn't bring his dog with him until he had his own accommodation and when he finally got accommodation I moved in with my elderly cat, which his staffy would tear apart as he hates cats. So he's remained with my fiancÚ's mother. My fiancÚ's sister also lives there with her dog, but my fiancÚ's mother says her dog is not an issue and it's just his staffy.

Anyway, my fiancÚ's mother has called him saying there's been neighbour complaints about him barking during the day and now the council has become involved. She told my partner she wants to have him put to sleep (seriously extreme response, especially since she's always seemed to like him, but I digress). Naturally my partner won't let this happen, but we're pretty much desperate to try anything. I would rather not use a collar but my fiancÚ is adamant that it's the only solution at this point. Does anyone have any experience with them? I know there's citronella ones, which I don't know much about but they seem like a better option than electric ones right?

It'd be nice to try training but his mother won't give the time, nor can I really expect her to since it isn't even her dog. She also won't let him stay inside, says he jumps on her leather couch when she's not home. Honestly, this whole thing makes me feel terrible and guilty for coming into their lives with a cat, which I know is silly, but I feel like any punishment Chevy gets is on my shoulders. He'd be living up here with my fiancÚ if it weren't for me. Any advice??

Baillif

05-28-2014 08:32 AM

A bark collar is fine. It basically trains the dog for you. The dogtra ones are the way to go. Don't get the pet safe fisher price crap they sell at Petsmart or petco. If you go that route start at the highest setting don't work your way up otherwise you run the risk of desensitization.

Just remember it needs to be snug and you also need to rotate the collar every few hours.

There might be some naysayers but whatever. I've been blasted by those collars on the highest setting. It isn't pleasant but it isn't super bad. We nicked an 8 year old kid the other day on the max setting because he wanted to know what it felt like and his immediate response was oh it wasn't as bad as I imagined.

KZoppa

05-28-2014 11:04 AM

Bark collars do help. My female was a fence barker at my inlaws. She would get going and nothing could pull her out of that mode. She's not a big barker so it was a shock when she started that immediately. We originally bought the collar for my previous male because he would bark and carry on despite being told 'quiet' and knowing the command. It worked very well.

The collar I have is reset when the battery gets changed but it basically changes the setting each time the dog pushes their luck. It's been effective to prevent unnecessary barking. She learned very quickly that when the collar is on, she is expected to be quiet. Downside with bark collars is the dog knows when they're on and will adjust themselves accordingly. If you accidentally forget to put it on when you should, the dog knows that and often times will take full advantage of it.

Liesje

05-28-2014 01:53 PM

I used one on Nikon a few times a few years back. It did help. Didn't seem to bother him. I mean, he quit barking but it wasn't like it damaged his psyche or anything. In my experience, it only worked while he was wearing it, meaning the collar did not teach him to not bark, it just made it so he didn't bark while he was wearing it. For some situations, that's really all you need, but if you need a really barky dog to generalize that the behavior is unwanted, it may not help.

Redrider469

05-28-2014 01:58 PM

I've also got the Dogtra. Only took a couple of nicks for her to learn. She only wears it when I don't want her to bark so it's of no concern that she knows not to bark while wearing it.

mego

05-28-2014 04:25 PM

I know a guy with a citronella collar and it works great for his dog.

However, that collar was like 40 bucks and is super sensitive and crap like Bailiff said, when his dog yawns too loudly it sprays him in the face - I'd spend a bit more money on something that does a better job.

Freddy

05-28-2014 04:33 PM

The tritronics (now Garmin) is an excellent model. They now offer it with a rechargeable battery they claim lasts 3 months.

njk

05-28-2014 06:58 PM

thanks so much for the responses! from my Google searches it seemed like there was so much anti-barking collar hate that I figured I'd get a bad response here, but I'm happy you guys were able to give such good advice :)

We definitely won't be getting a cheap one, I did a brief search on them yesterday and have seen some for upwards of $150. I figured the more expensive ones would be better and probably safer to use. I will look up Dogtra and the tritronics/Garmin model, though being in Australia we might have another brand that is the equivalent. I might hit our Vet up as well. The only problem would be rotating every few hours, as his mother works 7 hour days. My fiancÚ and I are going up in a month's time as I have surgery, so if his mother is willing to wait that long then we'll have a few weeks to try it out with us there to observe how he goes but yeah, I do anticipate he will probably still bark if it's forgotten to be put on lol thanks again!

lalachka

05-28-2014 07:06 PM

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I bought one for my dog (same thing, neighbors complain), he yelped and I took it back.

I'm still left with the problem of him barking though. Also, my friend put one on her dog and same thing, yelped.

So question, are they supposed to yelp? I put it on the lowest setting and it escalates on its own. I guess it escalated.

Is this OK? Might buy another one if so.
Should I start my own thread?